1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope system for endoscopic treatment use capable of collecting tissue obtained from a living body.
2. Background Art
In some conventional endoscopic methods for collecting a seized tissue of a living body used in various manipulations using an endoscope, tissue incised with a procedure instrument is suctioned by using a channel of an endoscope. Japanese Unexamined Utility Model (Registration) Application Publication No. S62-74804 discloses an example of a configuration including a cap capable of sealing a chamber formed at a forceps port of a forceps channel of an endoscope; and a tissue collection basket trap disposed in the chamber. A pipe serving as a forceps channel and a suction pipeway compatibly is inserted into the basket, and a pipe connected to an aspirating apparatus is disposed in the exterior of the basket. Tissue incised or the like from a human body upon actuating the aspirating apparatus is introduced into the basket through the pipe. The basket having a shape that allows passage of fluid but not the passage of tissue seizes the incised tissue alone.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H11-267089 discloses an example of a configuration in which a suction tube having a valve and a collection trap provided at some midpoint thereof and extracted from a proximal end section of a forceps channel of an endoscope into the exterior of the endoscope is connected to an aspirating apparatus. An incision forceps passed through the forceps channel upon incising a tissue, e.g., polyp is extracted from the forceps channel, and a forceps port is closed by a forceps cap. Opening the valve subsequently causes a suction force of the aspirating apparatus to act on the forceps channel through the suction tube, thereby suctioning the incised tissue. The tissue upon entering the suction tube from the forceps channel and getting out of the endoscope is collected by the collection trap.
However, in the configuration disclosed by Japanese Unexamined Utility Model (Registration) Application Publication No. S62-74804, the collection trap formed in the forceps channel for inserting the procedure instrument therethrough prevents insertion of the basket inevitably if the procedure instrument has been inserted without having the basket. Sometimes, this case loses track of the incised tissue while attaching the basket since the incised tissue cannot be collected immediately. Another drawback of the configuration for inserting the basket into the forceps channel is unsatisfactory operability in insertion and retraction of the procedure instrument relative to the forceps channel.
Also, an operator encounter unsatisfactory operability in the configuration disclosed by Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H11-267089 including a collection trap disposed at a considerable distance from the forceps channel, and separately extending three pipeways including an endoscope insertion section extending from the endoscope operation section grasped by the operator into the human body; a universal code extending to a control unit; and a suction tube for tissue collection. Another drawback in this configuration is that the operator while operating the endoscope has difficulty in removing a collected tissue from the collection trap, or attaching and detaching a filter for tissue collection since the endoscope is disposed at a considerable distance from the endoscope.
In an attempt to solve drawbacks of the aforementioned configurations, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2007-202630 discloses a configuration of a tissue-collecting apparatus having a tissue-collecting case and a tissue-collecting filter detachably attached to the tissue-collecting case that are disposed between a connecting pipeway and a suction pipeway that branch from a branch section provided to the proximal end of an operation channel (forceps channel) passing in the endoscope. In this configuration, the endoscope has the tissue-collecting apparatus attached thereto; therefore, a pipeway connecting the endoscope with the tissue-collecting apparatus is not arranged at the exterior of the endoscope.
The tissue-collecting apparatus collects an incised tissue from the distal end of the endoscope insertion section through the branch section. The tissue-collecting apparatus disposed to the operation channel proximally relative to the branch section prevents the procedure instrument from interfering with the tissue-collecting apparatus.
However, sometimes drainage remains in the tissue-collecting case partly upon seizing a tissue with a tissue-collecting filter and stopping an aspirating apparatus in the configuration disclosed by Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2007-202360. FIG. 23 shows a tissue-collecting case 111 of a tissue-collecting apparatus 110 provided to an endoscope operation section 100 disposed in a tilting state relative to the endoscope operation section 100. In this case, detaching a tissue-collecting filter 112 from a tissue-collecting case 111 for taking out the seized tissue causes the drainage remaining in the tissue-collecting case 111 to possibly spill therefrom.
In another case, the tissue-collecting case 111 of the tissue-collecting apparatus 110 is disposed substantially parallel with the endoscope operation section 100 as shown in FIG. 24. Tilting the endoscope operation section 100 and continuing the operation of an endoscope while the tissue-collecting filter 112 is detached from the tissue-collecting case 111 sometimes causes drainage D remaining in the tissue-collecting case 111 to spill therefrom, thereby soiling the operator and the area therearound.